Don't be afraid, fairy, I'm blind

Chapter 439: Distinguished Guests, Two Days

The north wind brought fine snow and knocked on the window frames. The gilded heater on the top floor of Qianhua Pavilion emitted charcoal fragrance, but it could not dispel the tense chill in the air.

"so……"

Venerable Qianhua adjusted the frame of her gold-rimmed glasses, with a malicious smile on her lips. The snow silk wrapped around her fingertips shone like pearls under the candlelight. She casually twisted the silk strands, but her eyes cut through Venerable Qianlong's tense face like a knife.

"This unprecedented evil tide in the Five Continents was actually caused by the Lord?"

As soon as he finished speaking, You Su suddenly felt a chill on his left side and frost on his earlobe.

It goes without saying that this is because the honorable lord who was chosen is sitting on his left.

"Your Excellency Qianhua is wrong... Your Excellency is also devoted to the people, which is why he was taken advantage of by the bad guys..."

Although Lord Nalan was grateful for Venerable Qianhua's protection, she had known Venerable Qianlong for a hundred years and knew that without Venerable Qianlong, Beiaozhou would still be the desolate place where nine out of ten tribes were empty. Therefore, she could not stand Venerable Qianhua's conclusion that all the blame was on Qianlong alone.

"City Lord Nalan, you don't have to excuse me. This matter was indeed caused by me. I was arbitrary and determined that this method would not be accepted by the world, so I wanted to do it in secret, which gave them the opportunity to take advantage of it."

The knuckles of Venerable Qianlong were white from pinching her sleeves, but her words were still frank, without any intention of shirking responsibility.

Venerable Qianhua chuckled, and the silk thread suddenly stretched straight like a string. "But I am curious, Master, you are a person who is on par with Venerable Tianshu. With your strength, shouldn't you just raise your hand to suppress the rebels? Why do you seem to be forced to flee the sacred mountain?"

As soon as the word "escape" came out, even City Lord Nalan's expression turned a little ugly.

Strength is the capital of a cultivator's speech. Venerable Qianhua asked this question, which was tantamount to putting his capital on the table and being frank. Although it was presumptuous, she had no reason to explain for Venerable Qianlong, because this was indeed a key issue.

"…Yes, I did escape! This plan was planned forty years ago. They have been making moves in secret all along, and even I am no exception."

Venerable Qianlong's brows were filled with anger, and his implication was that she had been tricked by the villain without realizing it, and only when she was about to fight with all her strength did she realize that she had lost a lot of her strength.

Venerable Qianhua nodded slightly, not surprised. Of course, it was impossible for her to know such a private secret of two souls in one body. The long-term poisoning that led to the loss of power was indeed a reasonable explanation.

She did not doubt it, but asked immediately:

"In other words, the Lord is not here to bring reinforcements... but is here to ask for help from poor people like us who are trapped in the evil tide?"

You Su couldn't help but frown when he heard this. He glanced at the cheongsam beauty leaning on the couch, thinking that this woman was really an expert at taking advantage of others.

"I am willing to follow the Lord! Help me to eliminate dissidents in Beiao!" City Lord Nalan immediately slammed the table and stood up. He couldn't stand to see Venerable Qianhua, a foreigner, mocking his Lord of Beiao.

The noble woman in the plain long dress gave her a grateful look, then took a long breath, and stared at the frivolous eyes of Venerable Qianhua with a pair of cold eyes, but it was like a heavy punch hitting cotton.

"Not reinforcements, but allies."

Venerable Qianlong uttered these seven words with difficulty, and sighed inwardly that there was nothing more humiliating and powerless than a tiger in dire straits being bullied by a dog, and that was a tiger in dire straits being bullied by a dog.

Her cultivation was not at the peak, but she was still comparable to herself, so how could she be afraid of a proud female fairy who was born and raised in a rich land. After all, as the Lord of Bei'ao, she represented the face of almost an entire continent. But it was precisely for Bei'ao that she allowed a junior to constantly mock her in person, and she had to swallow her anger and ask for help.

"I sincerely invite Venerable Qianhua to form an alliance with my Beiao."

"An alliance?"

Venerable Qianhua smiled lightly, wrapped his arms around his two plump breasts and sat up straighter, as if ready to start a serious negotiation, "Why should I form an alliance with Bei'ao?"

"The lips and teeth are interdependent." Venerable Qianlong spoke word by word.

Venerable Qianhua shook his head and said bluntly: "Your Bei'ao Continent is the most remote geographically, and now there are holes everywhere. Other continents are not like this. Even if it is really destroyed, it is equivalent to losing eyebrows, which has little to do with the survival of lips and teeth."

You Su carefully glanced at the fairy on his left and saw her jaw suddenly clenched. He could only sigh that Venerable Qianlong was in trouble for meeting this woman. However, he also knew Venerable Qianlong's helplessness.

The righteousness of sharing life and death could not possibly shake a woman like Venerable Qianhua. She had no eyes for the common people, only Qianhua Pavilion and herself. Every Venerable Dongxu had his own way, but Venerable Qianhua's way was not to cut clothes and cloth, but to do business.

She was essentially a businessman, and it was their nature to pursue profit. Her implicit derogation of the most distinguished female fairy in Bei'ao was not out of any personal grudge, but rather she was squeezing out the other party's bargaining power in advance. It was fortunate that it was Venerable Qianlong who still had some power. If it was another fairy who came to help in times of trouble, he would have been squeezed dry by this scorpion-like woman.

She was smart, but also cold-blooded. To ask her for help, You Su estimated that Venerable Qianlong would have to bleed heavily.

"How can Venerable Qianhua say that... The evil demons are the common enemy of the five continents. Today, Bei'ao is in trouble and you have given your all to help. If Zhongyuan is in danger in the future, I, Bei'ao, will naturally be obliged to do the same. The relationship between the five continents is naturally that one prospers and all prospers, and one suffers and all suffer. How can it be a relationship of eyebrows and lips and teeth? When the nest is overturned, how can the eggs remain intact!"

City Lord Nalan was still grateful to this woman for spending a huge amount of money to protect Fei City with the Colorful Thousand Silk Formation, and he couldn't believe that she really thought so.

But Venerable Qianlong was obviously not as naive as her, and raised his jade arm:
"Lord Nalan, there is no need to say more. Beiaozhou is a cold and bitter place, and we dare not expect to be as close as Zhongyuan and Nanyang. After this matter is settled, Qianhua Pavilion, as a foreign merchant, will not have to pay taxes for fifty years."

City Lord Nalan's eyes widened when she heard that. As the City Lord of Fei City, she knew the weight of taxes from Qianhua Pavilion. Even if it was discounted, it was still a staggering income for Shenshan.

"When Qianhua Pavilion moved in, it was exempted from taxes for ten years and reduced taxes for fifty years. It's a bit insincere of you to exempt Qianhua Pavilion from the taxes that have already been reduced."

Venerable Qianlong's face turned even colder, and he said in frustration: "A hundred years!"

Venerable Qianhua's smile was still vague, and he seemed unmoved:
"Let me be honest with Venerable Qianlong. My Qianhua Pavilion has only started to generate revenue in Beiaozhou in the past two years. In previous years, we had to use profits from other continents to fill the hole in Beiao. Moreover, the Colorful Silk Formation burns five years' worth of tax spirit stones from my Qianhua Pavilion every day. The money we earned in Beiao in the past two years has long been burned up.

"I could have protected the people in Qianhua Pavilion and withdrawn from Bei'ao, but I was willing to stay and protect Feicheng even if it meant losing money. Apart from my friendship with City Lord Nalan, it was not out of kindness on my part. I was unwilling to give up Qianhua Pavilion, the first in Bei'aozhou, and the opportunity for mutual benefit and win-win between Qianhua Pavilion and Bei'aozhou."

Lord Nalan felt mixed emotions after hearing this. This woman insisted on adding a sentence to take her feelings into consideration, which made it difficult for her to blame. Venerable Qianlong narrowed his noble eyes, and the fake kindness disappeared:

"If this first Qianhua Pavilion runs away, you will never be able to set foot in Beiao again. And you have finally set foot on this territory, how can you bear to leave at a loss. So you don't want to give up, it's because you have bigger ambitions."

"He who knows me honors the Lord."

Venerable Qianhua actually admitted it frankly, but while he was saying that it was the Lord who knew her, his eyes were still on the silent young man.

Venerable Qianlong has been at the top of the mountain for hundreds of years, so he naturally understood Venerable Qianhua's thoughts a long time ago. He has been tolerant in order to seize the possible opportunity for cooperation.

But now this woman's plot may be far beyond her bottom line. She already regretted letting Qianhua Pavilion enter Beiaozhou, so how could she dare to let it continue.

"I know Venerable Qianhua, but I also know that the people of Bei'ao can't stand any more trouble. I am grateful to Venerable Qianhua for his contribution in protecting the city. I will continue to exempt taxes for fifty years. You can go or stay as you please. As for the matter of fighting the enemy in the sacred mountain, I will not trouble you."

Hearing this, Venerable Qianhua finally showed a trace of surprise in his eyes, thinking in his heart that this lord really lived up to his reputation. In such a situation, he was unwilling to completely hand over the initiative to her, and even tried to bargain with her.

However, as the head of Qianhua Pavilion, she was accustomed to bargaining and knew that the easiest way to deal with such customers was to waste their time rather than completely cut off the possibility of a transaction.

After all, she didn't have to sell it. If she thought it was too expensive, she just didn't buy it. She could go to another store and see if the customer could find such satisfactory goods. If she couldn't find it, she would naturally come back to make concessions.

Venerable Qianlong naturally had similar thoughts in his mind. If Venerable Qianhua did not take the initiative to make concessions, she would not have given the other party this opportunity for deep cooperation in the future.

The words of Venerable Qianhua just now made her feel discouraged. She felt that saving Beiaozhou did not necessarily require Venerable Qianhua. The development of the people and land of Beiaozhou was entirely up to herself. Venerable Qianhua was indeed a great help, but he was also a huge hidden danger. She would never do anything to raise a tiger to cause trouble.

These two beautiful fairies in high positions were obviously engaged in some kind of tacit and silent tug-of-war, but at this moment, You Su suddenly stood up, attracting the attention of the three people.

"The Colorful Thousand Silk Formation of Qianhua Pavilion can crush even the tentacles of evil spirits." He raised his eyes, his right eye was covered by the shadow of his felt hat, but his left eye was bright and shocking, "But what exactly is this formation protecting?"

Venerable Qianhua paused for a moment as his fingertips wrapped in snow silk, and his eyes behind the gold-wire lenses suddenly became sharp, "Young Master, you should understand. Qianhua Pavilion is naturally protecting business."

"Since it's a business, we should make a clear account." You Su was still thirsty and couldn't hold back. He drank the untouched cup of tea in front of Venerable Qianlong in the stunned eyes of the three people. "Ninety percent of the cultivators in Beiaozhou wear coarse linen and short brown clothes, but a thin shirt in Qianhua Pavilion can be equivalent to their income for ten years. So Venerable Qianhua never bothered the poor people who dug for food in the snow, but the rich people who melted spirit stones and embedded them in the soles of their boots to look rich."

The fingers under the wide sleeves of the Venerable Qianlong suddenly tightened, and the ice mist condensed into tiny frost flowers on the cuffs. She watched the young man's slow and leisurely narration, and suddenly felt that his expression at the moment overlapped with the old foxes who were strategizing in the meeting hall of the God Mountain - but the tail of this fox was clearly wrapped in a ball of burning fire.

"There is no need to tax it free, but to increase it by 30%. As we said last time, we will tax Jinxiufang."

Last time?
Venerable Qianlong sensed something strange, and looking at the naked look in Venerable Qianhua's eyes, he also understood that it was impossible for this noble female fairy to be so flirtatious towards a man she met for the first time, and there was obviously some connection between the two.

"It is more merciful to let those young men who use shark silk as a face towel spit out more gold powder than to scrape the frozen bones of the poor." You Su said again.

Reverend Qianhua suddenly leaned forward, revealing an alluring cleavage at the collar of his black and gold cheongsam.

Her breath was sweet as orchid, but what she spewed out was poisoned honey: "Sir, do you know that merchants hate two kinds of people the most? One is those who rob people, and the other is those who collect taxes."

"So the third type of talent is precious." You Su's gaze was impartial, but it made the stubborn Venerable Qianlong frown slightly. "Those who can teach merchants to count money while paying taxes - for example, as Venerable Ao Shu said, build a large infrastructure in Bei Aozhou, recruit local labor, and even use Bei Aozhou's own fabrics. The cost saved is enough to fill the tax warehouse."

The warm room suddenly became silent, and sparks from the exploding charcoal fire fell into the jade incense burner.

Venerable Qianlong looked at the young man's profile. She didn't know that the young man had the same idea as her. She didn't know whether he had learned her trick of "robbing the rich and giving to the poor" or whether he had the same thoughts as her...

Although the young man's initiative left her no room to argue, his courage to bargain with Master Dongxu for Beiao alone had already deeply touched her.

"Pah, pah, pah."

Venerable Qianhua clapped his hands slowly and the golden bracelet on his wrist vibrated with an alluring sound.

When she stood up, her skirt rippled in black and gold waves, and the subtle fragrance on her body drifted towards You Su intentionally or unintentionally:

"It's a pity to bury such a wonderful person in Beiao. I asked you to follow me last time because Zhongyuanzhou is in need of a handsome young man who can use an abacus. Unfortunately, Master Aoshu didn't allow it. Now I know that you are the beloved disciple of Master Beiao. No wonder he refused..."

Venerable Qianlong's expression changed several times, and he could hear some lingering feelings from the woman's mouth. Fortunately, she seemed to really think that You Su was her disciple, and did not recognize You Su's true identity.

"Venerable Qianlong, your beloved disciple has a good business sense and we hit it off right away. As for price, it is always negotiable. Why don't you go and do your own thing first, and leave your disciple to negotiate with me." Venerable Qianhua spoke with a smile, but Venerable Qianlong's face was extremely ugly.

The so-called thing for her to do, of course, was how to explain the disaster to the people in the city.

As for the so-called room for negotiation, it naturally depends on how hard her "favorite disciple" works.

But how could she let You Suyang fall into the tiger's mouth? She immediately slammed the table and stood up, ready to scold this shameless woman, but was pulled by the sleeve by the Nalan City Lord who came to her side at some point. The middle-aged woman shook her head gently at her and said in a gentle voice:
"Your Excellency may not know that Venerable Qianhua admires your disciple very much. He had a very pleasant conversation with your disciple a month ago and even invited him to be his guest for two days. This is a treatment that I have never enjoyed before. Your Excellency may as well let the two of them reminisce about the past, and your Excellency can come with me to comfort the people of Beiao..."

This passage basically explained the origin of You Su and Venerable Qianhua's acquaintance. Venerable Qianlong was even more shocked after hearing it. The only words left in his mind were "being a distinguished guest for two days" and "distinguished guest".

"You go and do your work, leave it to me." The young man turned his head and said to her lightly.

But this indifferent tone sounded quite heroic and heroic at the time, sounding like a sacrifice of one's life for justice, to her ears.

In a daze, she felt that she was the one who was getting in the way. While she was still hesitating, she was pulled out of the warm room by City Lord Nalan.

The moment the vermilion lacquered door opened and closed, an almost inaudible sigh left her mouth.

(End of this chapter)